Chronicles of a Monstrous Academy

[Maeve]

"We're not really sure," Aurelia answered to Melanie's question about the headmaster. Truth is, the old man had not be seen around the school since the event that almost destroyed it. Some said he was dead, other that he had been captured by shadow creatures, and some less friendly even said he had allied with them, but to this day nothing could confirm any of the hypothesis. Aurelia sighed and looked around once more, starting the get annoyed. Some of the other gold badge students were effectively missing. She understood that the ones taking care of monsters or the infirmary could be busy, but there were also some others...

The blond jumped a little as Mel got up beside her. She took a rather surprised look and waited to see what the other girl had to say to the group. Nothing apparently, she thought with a smile as she realized the other was just making a small prank to break the tension. And it seemed to work, people starting to chuckle and returning to friendly chat. "Nice work," she said with a low voice to the other. Though, that had not resolved the problem of the missing teachers... The blond sighed and looked at the boys table, trying to make eye contact with one of the older ones. Apparently they would really need to do something, or else to would sit in the hall all night long. Realizing that the guy was busy talking with his friends, Aurelia changed her plan. "Do you have some paper and something to write?" she asked Ophelia.

"Uh, yes, probably," Ophelia said, reaching a hand into the bag she always kept with her and looking for the requested furnitures. After a few seconds, she took a pad of paper out as well as a pen and handed them to the blond, wondering what she was doing to do.

Aurelia reached a hand out and grabbed the things the younger girl was handing her. She scribbled some note quickly on a sheet of paper before tearing it apart from the rest of the pad. She clapped her fingers under the table and Dusca came closer. She folded the paper and stuck it between the lynx neck and his collar. "Go give that to Dan," she said, pointing toward a older boy with short black hair.

"Uh, what are you planning to do?" Ophelia asked, turning around to look at the boy called Dan, curious and stressed at the same time. Her friend wasn't the best at making plan, and so she somewhat feared this one would end up causing them more problems. Though, the blond didn't answered, making a small sign of the hand to say "Wait and you'll see". That wasn't the kind of answer Ophelia appreciated, and so she blushed a little, crossing her fingers and wishing for the teachers to appear before anything explode.

[Tsemara]

Melanie did a very poor job of hiding her grin behind her drink. She was pleased with the result of her prank. The tension has dissolved considerably. The fact that people had the grace to chuckle was like icing on the cake. She smiled at Aurellia. "Thanks. But now the next person to get up is likely to be told to sit down. Maybe even a few other people as well. That's the only downside to doing this," Mel chuckled slightly.

The teenager returned to her meal, paying attention to what her companions were up to. Aurelia still seemed worried or something about the lack of teachers. And apparently she was going to do something about it. Whatever it was, though, was a mystery. She looked from Aurelia to Ophelia, somewhat confused. But she decided she'd be better off not worrying about it.

[Maeve]

"...and there's also the tournament. Hopefully we'll get one this year." Dan was chatting with some of his friends, other students he had known for some years now, and a few newbies that were sticking with them. Suddenly, he felt something against his leg. Something pointy and slightly painful. He moved his leg a bit, thinking it was getting numb for having sit for so long, and stretched his hand to massage it.

Wait, fur? He looked down as his hand came in contact with something he wasn't thinking would be there. He acted as if nothing was going on, so the other students wouldn't worry, and looked at the lynx standing beside his feet. Uh, cat... he thought, not appreciating the felines very much. He took a better look at the creature, trying to figure out what it wanted, when he noticed a small paper on his collar. He carefully grabbed it and pulled it closer to him to read it.

After reading the little note, Dan lifted his head, looking for the author. When he made eye contact with Aurelia, he nodded, indicating he agreed with what the note said. "If you'd excuse me," he said to his friends as he got up and exited the room quickly. He had not been paying much attention to what was going on, being absorbed in his conversation, but apparently he wasn't the only one wondering what the teachers were doing. One time being late was understandable in the circumstances, but twice in row was a bit too much to the boy's tastes. Dan walked down a number of halls, heading for a room where he thought he could find some answers.

"What did you asked him?" Ophelia asked Aurelia as she saw him leave and Dusca coming back. She knew the guy and her friend didn't get along well most of the time, and so it was a bit strange to see him agree so easily.

"I just want to know what's going on," the blond answered, playing with a lock of her hair. "If I'm going to have to do anything, I want to be sure they're really not coming."

For some reasons, that didn't sound like a good thing to the younger girl's ears, and she took an even more puzzled look. She had guessed Aurelia would try something if the teachers didn't show up, since she was amongst the older students and thus one of the few to have the authorities to do anything. Though, she wondered what the other was thinking about, if it was so terrible that the teachers could not be around. She shook her head and tried to chase all the crazy thoughts that came to her mind, and once again wished for the teachers, or at least one of them, to show up quickly.

[Atraea]

*whump*

Jim landed flat on his back, on the concrete. "Owww...jeez. I don't remember the tire swing ever doing that..."
He sat up and looked at his surroundings, at the same time checking for any new scraps and bruises that weren't from recess. From what he could gather, he was in a field somewhere, with benches and trees here and there.
"...this isn't Castle Park..." Jim stood up and looked every which way, his eyes falling upon a grand castle, one bigger than he had ever seen. "And I know there weren't any real castles in the park either...where the heck am I-"

*whump*

Tommy came flying through a portal behind Jim, crashing into him and knocking Jim on his stomach. "Owww...that really hurrrtt...*sniff*"

"The one who oughta be hurt is me you big fatty, get off!" Jim turned over and Tommy rolled onto the ground as a result.

"Mom told you to stop calling me a fatty!"

"Well mom ain't here is she? So I figure I can call you what I want!"

Tommy felt his eyes being to well with tears, but he held them back. "Well fine! if that's so, I guess I can say real loud that YOU GOT BEAT UP BY A GIRL! JIM'S A WUSSY, AND I CAN SAY IT BECAUSE MOM'S NOT HERE! AND THAT HE GOT BEAT UP BY LINDSAY AT RECESS, 'CAUSE HE'S A...!" Jim knew that if he let Tommy keep this up it wouldn't be long before he reached that grating sing-song style of jeering all children like to use. So before Tommy could finish, Jim tackled him, sending them both rolling around the courtyard. "Lemme go! Stoppit Jim! OW"

The rough housing continued, elementary name calling, screeches from purple nurples and attempted wedgies, echoing to the ends of the yard, field, and pretty much anyone unlucky enough to be within earshot. They were knocked into benches, trees, and eventually a nearby flowerbed, where Jim threatened Tommy with a worm down his shirt and dirt in his hair...

"...if he didn't keep his big, fat mouth shut."

[Maeve]

((The dice decided what is happening, not me, because let's face it: the dice are better at making plot than me. XD))

Dan finally reached the room he was looking for. Unlocking the door and opening the door and reaching a hand on the side wall to turn the lights on, he wondered who had the stupid idea of placing the control room on the third floor of the school, at the end of a maze of halls. He shrugged as he sat on a wooden chair in front of a large monitor. The main background of the screen was a dark steel blue color, and some pale blue lines could be seen on it, representing the walls of the Academy. Some lines and zones of other colors indicated special areas. Though, Dan already knew most of the school and didn't need a map. Right now, he was interested by a group of small white dots in a room of the first floor...

Though the school didn't have a camera system, the monitoring device recorded the emplacement of anyone wearing a watch inside the school's perimeter, using different colors to show the level of the watch's owner. It was normally used to make sure students didn't get lost and to ease the rescue of endangered members, but it could also be used to find anyone. Of course, the access to the room was restricted to a small group of students, since the map also showed things normal students didn't need to know about.

The young man sighed as he noticed the white dots were all in the same room. It would make things easier, but it was also a bit depressing. If all the teachers were in the same room, they were most likely arguing with each other once again... Since the room didn't have any window, and probably no clock either, they probably hadn't realized the time it was. Dan brought his left arms in front of him and started to play with his watch, searching the communication features. After a few click, he pronounced the name of the person he wanted to join and waited for an answer.


In a small room, two floors below, twelve people were talking actively. A large wooden table took up most of the space, with a dozen of chairs placed around it. An old looking map had been deployed on the table, and a small piece of red cloth had been deposited in a corner to mark something. Although most of the teachers were sitting down, two of them were up and arguing, one on each side of the table. They were both resting their hands on the table's side, when they were not moving them around to try to prove their point.

"I'm telling you we need to..." one of the arguers, a muscular woman, started to say.

"It has already been done. Twice, if I remember well," the other one, a slim man, said.

"But what if..." the woman tried to continue, but she was interrupted once again, this time by one of her female colleagues. She took a surprise look as the man, or in this case, angel with her got up and headed for the door. "What do you think you're doing?" the female arguer asked, her tone annoyed yet covered.

"I'm leaving," the other woman said as she reached the door, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say. "We have other things to do, remember," she said, turning her head around and looking at each of her colleagues to remind them of their duty.

"I don't think so," a large man said as he got up at his turn, his voice sounding more like an order than anything else. "We need to settle this once and for all." He reached a hand to push the woman back in the room, soon being met by the hand of an angry-looking angel.

"How dare you?" the angel said, his voice roaring as he spoke.

"Calm down, you two!" a younger woman sitting at the table said cheerfully, her hand reaching into a pocket on her side.

"Don't even think about that!" the slim man said as he himself reached a hand to grab the wand tied to his belt.

Helen, the woman who had tried to leave, sighed, annoyed by their behavior. Although the teachers had always had small altercations in the past, it had never been bad enough for any of them to try to kill the others. "But that down, Stev," she said, walking to the slim man and putting a hand on his wand to prevent him from rising it and casting any spell. "You too, Sara," she added, looking at the younger woman. The two scolded teachers didn't look especially happy, but they both agree and replace their weapons were they went.

None of the teachers spoke for a few seconds, keeping a tense silence as they each calmed down. The athletic woman who had tried to convince them from doing something earlier was about to speak once more, when Helen's watch rung. A bit startled by the sudden sound, Helen looked at her watch to see who was calling, then at her colleagues to make sure they didn't mind the interruption. She then pressed a small button on the side. "What do you want, Dan?" she asked, trying not to look annoyed.

// I'm sorry to disturb you all, but the dinner has already started and the students are starting to worry about your absence. // Dan answered politely. Even if the voice of his mentor didn't sound annoyed, he could easily guess it was not the same for the other teachers.

A few of the teachers moved to look at their own watch - or whatever they had made of the original device - to know what time it was, some even letting go a small swear. "Yes, we are coming soon," Helen answered. She wasn't please by how things were turning, and she knew they would still need a little time, at least to get changes and go grabbed anything they needed. "Dan, could you take care of introducing the new silver and gold badge students while we get ready? It shouldn't be long, and at least it will occupy the students while they wait. Thanks." She didn't wait for his answer and cut the communication. "Now, let's all try to have a pleasant evening, shall we?" she said for the other teachers before she moved around the angel and the large man who were still exchanging angry look and exited the room. Danaë the angel gave a last look to the other teachers and followed his master, the other teachers soon doing the same and heading to their respective room to get ready for the dinner.


Dan sighed and got up. He was about to exit the room, when he noticed a small flash coming from the yard. He came back closer to the screen. Yes, it could only be a portal. The system could only track watch, but it also had special captors placed in the yards and in other area to detect the energy emitted by the portals, which helped the members of the Academy to catch the newcomers quickly. Dan looked at the map once more, then at his watch. Someone needed to go see if anyone had arrived by the portals, but everyone was busy right now, and he had to go distract the waiting students... He sighed and decided to return to the dining hall as quickly as he could to grab one of the other gold badge students and ask them to go check the yard, hoping it wouldn't take too much time.

[Atraea]

((Believe in the heart of the cards dice!))

"All right! All right you win! Just please let go-ho-hoooooo!!!" When Tommy's whining reached an especially annoying pitch, Jim got up and dusted himself off.

"That's better. Now quit whinin'. Get up! Dust yerself off, and help me figure out where the heck we are." Jim exited the bushes and walked toward the center of the courtyard, with Tommy following timidly behind him as he dust what he could only assume to be fertilizer. Once tommy caught up with Jim and gathered his bearings, he noticed the castle.

"...Castle Park doesn't have a real castle..."

"Yeah, that's what I said too. We ain't in the park Tommy. I dunno how t' explain it, but as soon as I sat in that tire swing something jus' sucked me in." Jim looked at Tommy gravely. "Same happened with you, right?"

Tommy nodded sagely. "Yeah. And it happened so fast. I never got a chance to even see what it was that grabbed me. There was a light, and then I landed on you." Tommy looked at the castle again, studying it's features. "I don't know of any place near our house with castles...I don't think America even has any..."

"So what, you sayin' we took a portal to England or somn'? Get real." Jim stretched his arms up above his head and folded his hands on the back of his head. "Well, no use jus' standin' here. Lessee if anyone's home." Jim began his leisurely stroll toward the castle.

"Huh? W-wait! Jim! What about our stuff? About mom and dad? What about getting home?"

"Huh? Aw Yeah, almost forgot. Better take it with us."

"Jim!"

"Oh what, like you really wanted to go home right now? After all the trouble we got into today, especially considerin' what you did to that kid?" Tommy was about to yell something back at Jim, who was now nearing the edge of the courtyard, but stopped short. Tommy's suddenly felt something sink into the pit of his stomach, and he found himself staring at the concrete.

"...yeah. Yeah all right." Tommy put on his backpack and gathered Jim's up and brought it to him, who proceeded to sling it over his shoulder. The first few minutes of the walk were in silence, and that was one thing Jim could not abide. Realizing that he had maybe upset his brother, he addressed it.

"I know you didn't mean ta hurt 'im Tommy."

"...yeah. But if I didn't do something, he was gonna get you. And maybe the rest of those kids. And if I had ran and got the teacher it would've been too late, and..."

"Hey, hey, relax will ya? 'Sa right. And...thanks."

Tommy looked at his brother and smirked. "thanks" had many meanings, but in this context, it meant "I owe ya one."

"No problem."

Jim slung his arm around his brother's shoulder. "On th' bright side, this'll give us a chance to thinka somn' to tell mom when we get back, right?"

"Haha, yeah."

[Maeve]

Dan came into the dining hall, panting heavily. He had run through the stairs and halls that were separating the monitoring room from the hall, and although he was in a good shape, it was still a tiring road. He stopped in the door frame and looked at the students gathered in there, trying to spot any other gold badge students. After screening through the room twice, he finally let go an annoyed sigh. Apparently, the only other gold badge he could find was Aurelia, which was a great annoyance to him. He took a few deep breaths and headed for the girl.

Some of the other students looked at him while he walked, wondering if it was a teacher at first. The fact that Dan was older than the majority of the gathered students didn't help. Though most of them lose interest when they noticed it was only a student going to talk with another one, some still watched what he was going to do. They had nothing better to do anyway.

Ophelia lifted her head as she saw the young man approached. Aurelia had not seen him, the main door of the room being in her back, but she turned her head when she saw her friend's expression. "Hey Dan," she said with a soft smile. Normally she would have exchanged some comments with the guy, but the serious look on his face made her worried. Did something really happen to the teachers?

Dan noticed her look and shook his head. "They're fine, from what I can tell anyway," he said, still wondering what could have taken them so much time that they forgot the dinner. "Though, while I was there, I noticed a portal appearing in the yard," he said, getting closer to the girls' group so that the other students would understand what he was saying. "I'd have go check, but the teachers asked me to introduce the new gold badge students, so I can't really..."

"You always have excuses, eh?" Aurelia said with a grin. "Fine then, I'll go see what happened in the yard, but you'll owe me one." She reached to get up, Ophelia soon imitating her.

Dan looked at the younger girl, shaking his head. "Uh, Ophelia, I think I'll need your help. You're the one who has the list of the students, no? And I'll need someone to manage the sound and stuff..." he added, blushing a little.

"Can't you ask Will... Oh right, he's still at the nursery," Opehlia said. "Ok then, I'll stay here. You'll be nice with the newbies, Aurelia?" she added, giving a look to her friend that pretty much said 'If you're not nice, I'll make you pay'.

"Don't worry, I've been here longer than you, and I think I know how to greet newbies," the blond said, apparently a bit annoyed. Seeing that her explanations had not convinced her friend, she added: "Ok, I'll take Mel with me then. And she will tell you that I did great. Fine?" Before annoyed had a chance to answer, she grabbed Mel and pulled her off her seat, leading her to the door. Dusca gently followed behind them.

[Atraea]

"Oh snap! Hey Tommy! I foun' gum in m' pocket!"

"Well...yeah, I have some too. We got it as a present from Ms. Riggs today for being her favorite class."

"Oh. Well, why ain't ya chewin' it?!" Jim popped a piece in his mouth and began smacking it and blowing bubbles. Tommy was inclined to protest chewing the gum, just because after 10 years with a twin, especially one like Jim, the urge to argue is almost reflexive. He opened his mouth, thought about it...

"Huh. I dunno," and popped a piece in his mouth as well, smacking the gum as his brother did.

"Hey Tommy?"

"Hm?"

"Betcha I cn' blow a bigger bubble n' yers." For a split second Tommy idly wondered how Jim could be so lazy about something as inherent to communication as speech. Of course in his head, it came out more like, where'd he learn to talk like that... But he decided to leave well enough alone.

"I bet you can't. But I'm not gonna blow one. I don't wanna get gum all over my face when I win."

"Chicken."

Tommy felt the urge to debunk this chicken theory, but repressed it once more. Forget it Tommy, it's like mom says, he's just trying to get you. He concentrated on chewing his gum. After a few more of his jeers fell on deaf ears, and victory jigs went unnoticed Jim resumed his earlier walking stance disappointed in the lack of participation from his brother.

"Yer no fun. Dad says a lil' competition's healthy."

"Dad's also a coach. His job kinda depends on it." Jim cut his brother a piercing glare at that remark, but shook it off. By now they had approached larger stone arches the marked the entrance for a breezeway, with stone columns lining it.

"What kinda person lives here ya think?"

"I dunno. Royalty probably."

"A king could live here? Really?"

"A castle this big, sure. I don't see why not."

Jim had a glint in his eye. "What if it's like, a King who summoned us, right? An' he needs our help, like slayin' a beast or somn'?" Tommy blinked.

"Uhm."

"What? Could happen."

*sigh*

"What?!"

((I hope I'm getting the architecture of this place right, I only read a little about what the castle looked like))

[Tsemara]

Melanie listened to the exchange between the upperclassmen. She figured she'd have nothing to contribute to the conversatin, so she kept her thoughts to herself. She concentrated on her food as well as the assembled monsters. Eventually her mind wandered away from the table and her companions. Real monsters. She was going to need to get used to that.

She was attempting not to stare at a monster that she couldn't place when she heard her name. She had just enough time to look up, before she was hosted from her spot. She was proud of the fact that she managed not to yelp in surprise. But the small wierd sound of confusion that escaped her mouth didn't help. "Uh, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention," Mel apologized, unsure as to what was going on. "I'm not in trouble am I?"

[Maeve]

((It's fine. The castle has been occupied by different people during different periods, and they each added their own special things to it.))

Aurelia thought for a second or two. She then shook her head. "No, you're not. Now come on!" The blond grabbed the other girl by an arm and pulled her toward the door of the dining hall, into the entrance and towards a nearby set of doors leading outside.

"Uh, Dan? Did you tell her where in the yard you saw something?" Ophelia asked as she saw her friends exit the room.

Dan blushed a little. "I think I did..." He shook his head, unable to recall if he had the time to give the exact location to Aurelia. "Anyway, now let's go distract the other students," he added with a shrug, finding nothing better to do in the circumstances.

((Tired brain = Short post ))

[Tsemara]

Melanie figured she ought to be relieved that she wasn't in trouble. Though the reason she had been pulled away from the table still eluded her. Especially with the fact that the older girl was being rather forceful about it. She eventually got her bearings and looked more like she was accompanying Aurelia, instead of looking like she was being abducted. Though, to be honest, she wasn't sure what the case was, when it came to the blond.

"Um, Aurelia," the redhead said after they left the main building of the castle. "I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind loosening your deathgrip on my arm. I'm having a hard time feeling my fingers." This wasn't true, but it might give her use of her arm again, at least. "I promise not to wander off and cause trouble, if you do."

[Maeve]

((Now make cute puppy eyes and I'll think about it XP ))

Aurelia turned to face Mel as she spoke. She then looked at her hand around the other's arm. "Or, right, sorry for that," she said with a small smile, blushing a little and releasing her grip. It was a bad habit, grabbing other people and pulling them around, but even if she knew it, Aurelia still did it way too often. The blond girl then passed a hand through her hair,pushing them back in their place. Looking around them, she added: "Ugh, now we need to find that portal..." ...and Dan didn't tell me where it was, she added mentally.

With a sigh, she brought her watch closer to her and started clicking on some buttons. Soon, a map of the Academy showed on the screen. The blond scrolled through it, hoping Dan would have at least taken the time to indicate the position of the unchecked portals. She could just have returned to the hall and asked him, but chances were he was already talking in font of the crowd of students... Not a good time to be disturbed. The blond shook her head and let her arm got down, having found no trace of any indication. "Well, we'll have to do it the old way." She took a look at Dusca, who had followed them into the yards. "C'mon girl, find that portal for me!" she said happily to the large cat.

Some monsters from the Academy had been trained to track portals and their residual energy, a bit like dogs trained to find drugs in people's luggages. Most of the higher students had one of those monsters, just in case they would need it, though it was rarely used in normal situation. Yet, Dusca had not forgotten what she needed to do. The lynx took a few short breaths, looking for that special scent. It was a mixed of freshly-cut grass, lightning storm and something else that couldn't be described with words. Soon, a path started to form in her mind, following the smell carried by the light breeze. She started to walk in that direction, slowly at first, and faster as she was convinced it was the right path.

"Better not loose her," Aurelia said, following the cat.

[Atraea]

"Sure ya think ya cn' blow a bigger bubble n' me?" Jim blew a pink bubble about the size of a tennis ball to illustrate his point. Tommy continued to ignore him. "Hmph." Jim continued smacking his gum. Then he stopped short, then slowed his chewing, in what would be an ominous fashion had Tommy been paying attention. He slowed his pace in as inconspicuous a manner as possible, letting Tommy pass him up. Jim then slowly started blowing what would hopefully become a monster of a bubble.

"Ya know, Jim," Tommy started, completely aware that his brother had slowed down. Jim may be a hyperactive nuisance, but when her runs out of fuel, he crashes. It was then that Tommy realized he had the upper hand. "You should consider the danger and risks we're taking by going in here. Did you ever stop to think that the king may not be a nice, giving, benevolent king?"

Jim's bubble deflated before it even reached ping-pong ball size. He kept his distance, intending to try again, but still listening to Tommy's words.

"What if he's not a king, but an evil warlord, or something. Or maybe there's no one even here! Maybe it's empty! Think about it. Since we got here, it's just me an' you. We haven't seen anyone else, and it's been a good half hour. Even if it's evening, it's about dinnertime. You'd think there'd be servants running around, or people going home..."

Jim had not considered any of those things. As much as he hated to admit it, Tommy was right. It was getting dark, and they hadn't seen a single soul. No, no, c'mon Jim, stoppit. He's jus' tryin' to shake you up 'cause he doesn't wanna compete with this awesome bubble you're about ta-

"This place could be haunted Jim." Tommy turned and looked at Jim with a look of mock concern, just in time to see Jim swallow his gum. Tommy knew that ever since the incident in the attic the day they moved in, Jim had been terrified of ghosts. He wouldn't even watch Scooby-Doo anymore. Jackpot. Tommy's look of concern became a smirk. "You swallowed your gum dude." He then proceeded to blow a bubble twice the size of Jim's earlier, took it out of his mouth and held the chewing part between his fingers. He then began his slow walk toward Jim.

"N-Nice bubble Tom! Ya really beat me. I uh...what are you...?"

Tommy was dead calm. His smirk became a near wicked grin. "This is for the worm earlier." Despite being less athletic Tommy shot forward with surprising speed looking like a Heisman trophy, holding large, pink, sticky doom in the outstretched arm.

"No, Tommy, STOP!!!!" But Tommy didn't stop, so Jim ran in the opposite direction, back from whence they came. Tommy chased after him, the bubble bouncing lightly in the air.

Jim made it back to the courtyard before Tommy did, giving him a chance to hide. Tommy's lack of fitness was starting to catch up with him, and he slowed down. While Jim contemplated a hiding spot, he heard Tommy voice echo a short distance away.

"You can't hide from me Jimmmmmmyyyy..." Jim shuddered at the name. "Jimmy" was used in instances of jeering and great irritation. "I'm getting closer Jimmmmeeeeehhhhh!!!" As Tommy's voice became more deranged, Jim dove into a bush at the furthest end of the courtyard. He huddled in the bush, as he heard Tommy approach the courtyard.

"You shouldn't toy with your dear old brother Jimmmmboooo...hahahahaha!!!"

((Tommy think's he's Jack Nicholson. Ha.))

[Maeve]

((Sorry for the slow posting. Those rollbacks and various life crap are annoying me.
Sorry Tse, I'm taking you with me
And I'll also post something in the OOC...))

Night was falling quickly at this time of year, bringing its share of cold, and Aurelia didn't want to stay out for to long. She gave a few encouragements to her lynx, pushing her to find where the portal was. Dusca ran into the direction of the portal quickly, though making sure she didn't lost the two humans following her. Soon enough, she started moving more slowly, stopping a few times to gather the scent. It was close, she was sure of it, but the portal seemed to have disappeared before they arrived. However, there was another scent mixed with the portal. Humans, the feline mind's say. Her hypothesis was quickly confirmed as her fine ears caught voices that could only be human. She growled a little, warning her master of something.

"Well, then girl, what have you found?" the blond asked, looking around. Soon enough, she could hear the voice herself, although they were too far for her to identify properly. The girl stopped moving and looked around. The darkness falling on the yard was making it harder to see anything, but she fairly noticed a small silhouette running not too far away from where they stood, and apparently looking for something. Could it be a newbie? she thought as she started walking in that direction. It was either some of the small kids or humanoid monsters from the school that had missed dinner, or newcomers. Though, she couldn't see why kids or monsters would act like that.

She walked toward the silhouette, making very little sound as she did. Soon enough, she was close enough to place a hand on the shoulder of the young newcomer. "Well well, what have we here?" she said with a smile. She made a small sign of the hand to Dusca, who had been following her and was now growling after the newcomers. The large cat didn't really like noisy kids, and from what she could smell, there was apparently two around. Too much for her tastes. She stood beside her master's legs and waited to see what happened.

[Atraea]

Tommy spun around at the hand placed on his shoulder, waving the pink bubble through the air as if to defend himself.

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! I'VE GOT A BUBB-" he stopped mid-sentence as he saw who it was that got his attention. She's...she's really pretty...Tommy shook off the strange feeling, and resumed a more decent pose, more characteristic of his usual demeanor; standing normally, hands resting at his sides. He stood quiet for a few seconds, then glanced at the gum bubble on his hand, popped it and put it back in his mouth, resuming the smacking sound. "Uhm...sorry. D-do you live here? My brother and I-...Oh. JIIIIIIM! COME OUT, I FOUND SOMEONE!"

Jim cautiously poked his head out from the bush. "No lie?" He caught sight of his brother, having regained his composure, standing with a blonde, a cat, and another figure. "Oh...well shoot." Jim crawled out of the bush and jogged over, happy to have someone stop his brother's petty vengeance. He slowed to a walk as he got closer, stopped and stood next to his brother, regaining his carefree "hands behind his head" stance. Hearing the growling of the cat he glared at it and growled right back. "What're ya lookin' at," he glanced at the lovely girl standing before them, who was likely the owner. "Hi. You look like our babysitter."

Tommy made a small sound, gave a sigh of embarrassment, and put a hand to his forehead.